General Political News and Comment
Your one-stop-shop
for political news and conservative opinion. Please forward to friends who need
to be informed. These posts are created by many readers who send me items for
inclusion, which I would have likely missed or skipped. We owe them thanks and
appreciation. I post articles because I think they are of interest and will
stimulate thought and discussion. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily
agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article, or that I
was able to verify the information presented, which is the responsibility of
the author. I try not to post things that are false, too far a stretch, or
viciously inflammatory, regardless of the view point, but I don’t always succeed.
As always on the Net, as in the legacy media, you must read critically and with
skepticism. ~Bob
Information on my
books
Older, but worth reading: The Ten Ships. By Richard
Fernandez
Excerpt: One of the reasons the Navy opposed a Southwest
Pacific campaign during the Pacific War was the shrewd appreciation that once
bureaucracy started on a task it would grow with it like a cancer whatever its
original purpose. Admiral King wasn’t against an action in the Solomons. He was
just afraid that it would take on a life of its own. The passage of time has
not changed this tendency. The campaign in Afghanistan began in 2002 with a
specific purpose. But by the time Barack Obama was running for President its
chief attraction was the fact that it was an alternative to the campaign in Iraq . A 2009
article in the Wall
Street Journal covering his speech before the VWF captured his
thinking: Afghanistan was a “war
of necessity”, unlike Iraq ,
which was a “war of choice”. Of all the “false choices” the President was fond
of rhetorically raising, this was perhaps the falsest choice of all. By
asserting that Afghanistan ,
not oil or the Middle East or radical Islam was
the center of gravity of the enemy, President Obama completely misframed the
strategic choices. (A really great essay from four years ago. --Del )
Newt: Cantor Should
Sue His Pollster, Campaign Consultants
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/News-Cantor-primary-loss/2014/06/12/id/576571/
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/News-Cantor-primary-loss/2014/06/12/id/576571/
Excerpt: He should also "sue his pollster and his
consultants for malpractice," Gingrich advises. "They outspent the
challenger 25 to 1 and lost. They spent almost as much on steakhouse dinners
($170,000) as Brat's entire campaign spent (about $200,000)." (From one of
my best campaign supporters during my five successful campaigns for the Massachusetts
Senate, 1972-1980. She, her late husband Ron and their kids were on board early
and never faltered. ~Bob. Bob... I was reminded of your campaign. Getting out
to the people. Letting them know that you care and were available to talk man
to man if they had a question. A little bit of America may STILL be alive and
well. --Laura
Excerpt: The West Point graduating class of 2014 spoke
volumes as their commencement speaker, Barack Obama, used the speech NOT to
laud them for their accomplishments and their sacrifice to serve in the U.S.
Military, no, instead he chose to use that precious time to tell them how
effective his foreign policy has been, how the military role in foreign policy
going forward (paraphrasing) ain't what it used to be and is no longer a
leading line of defense. At times he stumbled over the words on the
teleprompter to the point of embarrassment but he didn't seem to be in the
least bothered by it. To top off his narcissistic ramblings in which he claimed
successes in Syria and Ukraine for God's Sake and bragged about ending the war
in Iraq (and as every cadet sitting there knew, his actions of pulling all
troops on a date certain, handed Iraq right back to Al Qaeda linked terrorist
groups as if the sacrifices our military made was of no consequence and stood
for nothing. Believe me, every one of those intelligent, well informed cadets
knew the sacrifice this president flushed down the toilet and for what;
political gain. (Interesting observations about the West
Point graduation. --Del )
Conan’s Hilarious
Parody of Hillary Clinton’s ‘Brain Damage’ Will Infuriate Liberals
Excerpt: Conan O’Brien is still not sure that Hillary
Clinton doesn’t have health issues after she gave an interview to ABC’s Diane
Sawyer…
Obama blasts GOP at
high school graduation, tells students to vote Democrat
Excerpt: After praising the school’s focus on
career-centered education and encouraging graduates to give back to their
communities, Mr. Obama addressed the rising cost of higher education, blasting
Senate Republicans for stalling a Democrat-backed bill that would allow
borrowers to refinance
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their college loans. The bill failed in the Senate on
Wednesday, a defeat the president blamed on Republicans. At the mention of the
GOP, some graduates began to boo. (Damn republicans. It's not like we have the
highest deficit in history, or the highest corporate tax rate in the world
driving jobs overseas, or that the top 5% of earners pays 40% of the taxes. You
can afford more to help students major in Gender Studies to prepare them for
living in Mom's basement. ~Bob)
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their college loans. The bill failed in the Senate on
Wednesday, a defeat the president blamed on Republicans. At the mention of the
GOP, some graduates began to boo. (Damn republicans. It's not like we have the
highest deficit in history, or the highest corporate tax rate in the world
driving jobs overseas, or that the top 5% of earners pays 40% of the taxes. You
can afford more to help students major in Gender Studies to prepare them for
living in Mom's basement. ~Bob)
Excerpt: With the departure of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor,
a critical voice on foreign policy will be lost. The House is not thought of as
a central player in foreign policy, but under this president Congress has
become a critical counterweight to his pattern of retrenchment, capitulation
and reality avoidance. Certainly there are other responsible GOP leaders on
national security, but Cantor’s departure also shifts responsibility to a key
Democrat, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) who has teamed with Cantor on important
initiatives, including Iran
sanction.
Amnesty Lite Is Still Amnesty. By Thomas
Sowell
Excerpt: Not since a 42-to-1 underdog named Buster Douglas
knocked out undefeated heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in 1990 has there been
an upset like economics professor Dave Brat defeating House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor in the Republican primary in Virginia .
You couldn’t write a script like this for a movie and have
it be believable. Congressman Eric Cantor, with all kinds of name recognition,
and outspending his opponent by 5 million dollars to $100,000, lost 55 percent
to 45 percent against somebody that virtually nobody ever heard of before.
Polls, incidentally, had predicted that Cantor would defeat Brat 62 percent to
28 percent.
Excerpt: How many of you know that Apple is an Irish
corporation? Yep, the largest capitalization company in America (it volleys back and forth with Exxon)
takes residence in Ireland .
While Apple boasts of their headquarters in Cupertino , California Ireland taxes
Apple's earnings at 10%, just as they do for any company that agrees to
manufacture in that country. The U.S.
corporate tax rate is 35%, and while they do grab their share of Apple's $60
billion in U.S. based
revenue, Apple keeps their tens of billions in cash in Irish banks and shelters
their bigger world wide income from U.S. taxes.
Students React When
Asked To Donate to Hillary Clinton Fund For ‘Dead Broke’ Politicians
Excerpt: Former first lady, Senator, and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton told ABC’s Diane Sawyer on Monday that the Clintons were “dead broke
and in debt” after leaving the White House in 2001. “We came out of the White
House not only dead broke but in debt. Uh, we had no money when we got there,
and we struggled to, y’know, piece together the resources for mortgages for
houses, for Chelsea ’s
education. You know, it was not easy,” Clinton
said. Campus Reform decided to ask students at Georgetown University
Surprise! IRS ‘Lost’ 2 Years of Lois Lerner’s Emails
Show me your shocked face. ~Bob. Excerpt: Funny how the
NSA can keep track of our phones, yet the government seems to have conveniently
‘lost’ two years of Lois Lerner’s e-mails. Do they really expect us to believe
this? (Clash Daily) According to the House
Ways and Means Committee, the IRS has "lost"
two years of emails belonging to former head of tax exempt organizations Lois
Lerner. The IRS doesn't have a record of her emails to outside groups or
government agencies from January 2009 through April 2011, conveniently
encompassing some of the same time when tea party groups were being targeted
for extra scrutiny and possible criminal prosecution. The IRS says the loss of
emails is due to a "computer crash" and claims emails from or to
Lerner from the White House, Democratic members of Congress, the Treasury
Department, FEC and Department of Justice cannot be located. They do however
have emails belonging to Lerner that she sent to other IRS employees.
Chelsea Clinton
reportedly made $600,000 for a year’s work at NBC. And Twitter went wild.
Excerpt: A spokesperson for Clinton reached by the Post didn't confirm
the figure, referring questions to NBC. But it didn't take long for the report
to ripple online (largely among journalists who probably earn somewhat less),
often linked to Hillary Clinton's remarks earlier this week about the family
being "dead broke" in 2001.
5 Times Obama
Abandoned US Allies
Excerpt: In October 2011, President Obama
stated that the last American troops would leave Iraq by the end of the year.
“Today,” he chortled, “I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops
in Iraq
will come home by the end of the year.” He celebrated “another season of
homecomings,” stating, “Our troops will definitely be home for the holidays.”
More Evidence the
Obama Administration Lied About Benghazi
Excerpt: In a recent bombshell interview with a military
insider, Fox News’ James Rosen and Brett Baier uncovered some startling
new information about the attack on Benghazi . Rosen did the investigative work,
while Baier interviewed Reitred Major Eric Stahl, who was the commander of a
C-7 Aircraft that was stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany . Stahl
makes some shocking assertions about what happened that night, and about the
lies that the Obama administration made in the aftermath of the attack. His
testimony seems to be damning evidence that both the State Department and the
Department of Defense had a hand in lying to the nation about what really
happened at Benghazi
on 9/11/2012.
Outrage as IRS Admits
Huge Trove of Lerner's Emails Is Missing. By Todd Beamon
Excerpt: Conservatives are outraged at the IRS' disclosure
late Friday that it had lost a trove of former administrator Lois
Lerner's emails on the targeting of tea party groups, with one critic likening
it to the infamous gap in a tape of President Richard Nixon's conversations
during the Watergate scandal. "Liars. They're such liars.
Unbelievable," charged Washington
attorney Cleta Mitchell, who is representing several groups in a federal
lawsuit over the targeting in their applications for tax-exempt status.
"This is outrageous. They're lying. (Let's see, they fought bitterly for
months about access to these e-mails, and then, when at long last they were
told to cough them up, they are all missing. What a shock, what a mystery, what
a convenient thing to have happen. --Del.
How bad is the original crime they are hiding if they are willing to destroy
evidence and break the law in the cover up? -- Grover Norquist)
What Would You Do If
Obama Freed The Terrorist Who Killed Your Dad?
Excerpt: Could Obama say that Alison Spann is politicizing
the Bowe Bergdahl controversy if he knew one of the terrorists he freed had
killed her dad? Not just that, but the first American killed in the war? ...
Alison Spann was just 9 when she learned her father, a U.S. Marine turned CIA
operative, had become the first American killed in the war in Afghanistan.
Thirteen years later, she found out her country had freed the Taliban leader
behind his death.
Bowe Bergdahl Was Discharged From Coast Guard Before
Joining Army. By Ben Mathis-Lilley
Excerpt: Rescued POW Bowe Bergdahl was discharged from the Coast Guard for psychological reasons
before he joined the Army, the Washington Post reports. According
to Coast Guard records, Bergdahl left the service in early 2006 with an
“uncharacterized discharge” after 26 days of basic training. The term applies
to people discharged before completing 180 days of service. The official
records don't describe the circumstances of Bergdahl's departure, but
the Post spoke to two friends of his who say he claimed to have faked
a psychological problem to escape his commitment. Both told the newspaper that
they believed he had real psychological issues underneath whatever he might
have affected as a ruse: (This kid has been a lot less than mentally well balanced
for a very long time. The Army should never have let him in, but they did,
and he still has to bear responsibility for his own actions. I want a low
level disciplinary hearing, a verdict of guilty for UA, a BCD, and send him
home. (Which, given his father's obvious weird attitudes, won't do him a
lot of good, but that can't be a problem for the Army or the nation.) --Del.
You softie! If proven guilty of aiding the Taliban, as some soldiers alleged, I
want him shot. ~Bob)
Obama does as Obama
is. By Lawrence
Excerpt: First and foremost, Barack Obama is a congenital
liar, whose lies, the number and magnitude of which are produced to match the
scale of his sweeping narcissism. (basic economic theory. People do what they
are rewarded for. Obama has always been rewarded for lying. he lied that
"you can keep your plan" and Obamacare squeaked through. He lied
about the deficit, Gitmo, Executive Orders, taxes and any number of things in
2008, and was elected president. He lied about Benghazi in 2012 and was re-electerd. He
knows the racist media won't call him on it because he is black. Lying works
well for him. ~Bob)
5 Disastrous Obama
Policy Decisions That Have Already Blown Up In His Face. By John Hawkins
Excerpt: The only reason liberalism survives is because
there's usually a good bit of lag between when a policy is being implemented
and the time when the American people get to see the results. If Americans
could somehow magically see what would happen in a decade or two after a
liberal policy has passed, there would be no liberals left. Instead, back in
the real world, liberals create or exacerbate disasters with their policies,
blame everyone other than themselves, and then demand more government action to
fix the problem they screwed up in the first place.
49 dead after
Pro-Russian rebels down Ukrainian plane; Moscow
Excerpt: Pro-Russia separatists shot down a Ukrainian
military transport plane Saturday, killing all 49 crew and troops aboard in a
bloody escalation of the conflict in the country's restive east.
It was a bitter setback for the Ukrainian forces, which have
struggled to suppress an armed insurgency by foes of the new government.
Religion of Peace News
U.S. won’t intervene
in Iraq in absence of political reform by Iraqis, Obama says
Excerpt: The Obama administration has decided to hold any
military intervention in Iraq
in abeyance until it sees clear evidence that the country’s politics and
governance are reforming, according to U.S. officials. After near-nonstop
crisis meetings since early this week, President Obama has ordered options
prepared for possible airstrikes in Iraq as well as a wide range of
direct military assistance short of American boots on the ground.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: The Arab Spring is over. Welcome to the Jihadi
Spring. Across a huge swath of what, up until recently, had been known as Iraq and Syria , a transnational movement of
Sunni Islamic extremists has taken control. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) has conquered — without much effort – Mosul ,
Iraq ’s second largest city,
along with most of the province
of Nineveh
Maliki’s Iraq
Excerpt: Maliki’s failure has been increasingly obvious
since the elections of 2010, when the Iraqi people
in their wisdom elected a broader, less-sectarian coalition. But the Obama
administration, bizarrely working in tandem with Iran , brokered a deal that allowed
Maliki to continue and has worked with him as an ally against al-Qaeda.
Maliki’s coalition triumphed in April’s elections, but the balloting was
boycotted by Sunnis.
Excerpt: This week's stunning advance by the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Sham (ISIS) presents some serious questions about the legitimacy of Iraqi
security forces (ISF) and Washington 's
policy of giving billions in military aid to troubled Middle Eastern
governments. Since the fall of Fallujah in early January, the Iraqi military
has failed to put down the rising insurgency in the west. Now with the fall of Mosul , Tikrit, and Bayji, it has collapsed completely in
the north and much of central Iraq .
Excerpt: A statement from the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Sham posted on social media sites today detailed ISIS' gains in the city of Mosul on Tuesday.
The statement, issued by ISIS' media office for Wilayat Ninewa, is a summary of
the operation to take Mosul that the terror organization is calling the
"Invasion of Asadullah [Lion of Allah] al-Bilawi Abu Abdul Rahman,"
after a now deceased ISIS commander 'Adnan Ismail Najm (AKA Abu Abdul Rahman
al-Bilawi). The statement begins by praising Allah who "brings honor to
the Muslims with his victory and humiliates the polytheists with him
subjugation" for the conquest of Mosul on
Tuesday. The statement goes on to detail some of the planning and achievements
of the ISIS invasion: (To Muslims, Christians
who believe in the Trinity are "polytheists." ~Bob)
Day
of Reckoning. By Richard Fernandez
Excerpt: Ernest Hemingway observed that people went broke
gradually at first then all of a sudden. Barack Obama’s career, for so long
without visible means of support, has now moved onto the “all of sudden stage”
of bankruptcy. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda affiliated
front of Muslims, have followed up their lightning seizure of Mosul by taking Tikrit, the former stronghold of Saddam Hussein.
For Obama , Iraq
Excerpt: President Obama inherited two wars on taking
office, one he called “dumb”to
his political benefit and the other he described more
urgently as “the war we need to win.” It is the dumb one
today that poses the most immediate challenge to his national security
priorities and to his foreign policy legacy. Iraq is splintering,
and with it both the original neo-conservative belief that a sectarian
dictatorship could be made quickly into a stable democracy and Obama’s
hands-off approach to the wider region.
ISIS butchers leave
'roads lined with decapitated police and soldiers': Battle
for Baghdad
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2655977/ISIS-militants-march-Baghdad-trademark-bullet-head-gets-way-control-north.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2655977/ISIS-militants-march-Baghdad-trademark-bullet-head-gets-way-control-north.html
Excerpt: The full horror of the jihadists’ savage victories
in Iraq
emerged yesterday as witnesses told of streets lined with decapitated soldiers
and policemen.
Blood-soaked bodies and blazing vehicles were left in the
wake of the Al Qaeda-inspired ISIS fanatics as they pushed the frontline
towards Baghdad .
They boasted about their triumphs in a propaganda video depicting appalling
scenes including a businessman being dragged from his car and executed at the
roadside with a pistol to the back of his head.
Excerpt: As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq
escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the
Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist
staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.
But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been
rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in
a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States
withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011. (Obama bombing Libya was different--Libya at that time posed no threat
to us, like it does now as a terrorist haven. ~Bob)
‘Last Days of Vietnam ’ Screens to Unsettling Echoes From Iraq
Excerpt: “Last Days in Vietnam ” may be a film about events
that happened nearly 40 years ago, but it was also one of the timeliest movies
to show on Thursday's first full day of screenings at the Los Angeles Film
Festival. Director Rory Kennedy's documentary is an eye-opening and
unexpectedly moving chronicle of the chaotic evacuation of Americans and
friendly Vietnamese from the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon
as North Vietnamese troops prepared to take the city in April 1975. And it
screened at LAFF on a day when three planeloads of Americans were being
airlifted out of a Baghdad suburb as Sunni
insurgents continued to take territory in northern Iraq ,
where U.S.
troops once fought. (If a very well equipped army just melts away when 800
fighters come at them, then the country wasn't really a country, not a nation
with a real identity and people willing to fight for it. We left a kind of mess
behind, there and Maliki has been a terrible leader, corruption and violent
partisanship running rampant, so it has never jelled as a real nation. The 13
colonies managed to get together, with great difficulty, after throwing the
Brits out, because they had great leaders who convinced everyone that it was
more important to concentrate on what they shared than where they differed. And
that they were much stronger united than they were when divided. All the
special groups in Iraq
seem to never have figured out either of those things. Meanwhile, really
dedicated religious fanatics become comparatively formidable, because they are
united, focused, not to mention brutal and merciless. And if they win out, the
whole population of Iraq
will get to live the hell that the people in Kabul had under the Taliban. Already they are
being told that Sharia will be enforced, and no woman should even leave the
house without a compelling reason and a man to accompany her. This is exactly
what they promised, they have never been shy about announcing their intentions
and the guiding principles to which they are devoted. There should be no
surprises here. Maybe if we offer real help, like serious air strikes (small
chance), the rest of the Iraqis will figure out it's time to fight or sign up
for slavery. The smart ones are the Kurds, who are tough fighters and willing
to go at it when necessary. They will carve out their own area and if we have
any smarts left at all, we'll back them. --Del. Alas, there are a growing
number of Americans who would not fight for America --or anything else. ~Bob)
Excerpt: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham's rapid
advance southward to Baghdad after taking
control of Mosul just three days ago appears to
have been halted outside of the gates of Samarra ,
home to one of the holiest shrines in Shia Islam. Iraqi security forces in Samarra blunted the ISIS '
assault from the north late yesterday, stopping an armed convoy from entering the city. The military
is said to have deployed aircraft while battling the ISIS
vanguard.
Iraqi and Syrian towns and cities seized by the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Sham. Map created by The Long War Journal. Click to view
larger map. (Novel: An Appointment in Samarra
Excerpt: The lightning advance of the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Sham and its allies from Mosul to the
outskirts of Samarra , as well as its capture of
several towns in eastern Diyala, all over the course of several days, appears
to be part of a greater strategy to surround the capital of Baghdad before laying siege to it. This plan,
to take over the "belt" region outside of Baghdad
and cut off the capital, appears to be the same strategy used by the ISIS ' predecessor back in 2006.
ISIS Leader: ‘See You
in New York
Excerpt: The Islamist extremist some are now calling the
most dangerous man in the world had a few parting words to his captors as he
was released from the biggest U.S.
detention camp in Iraq
in 2009. “He said, ‘I’ll see you guys in New York ,’”
recalls Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca
Horror in Iraqi Roads
- Isis Death Squads Killing without mercy.
Video not for all (18+)
Excerpt: The psychopaths of Isis
are killing without mercy in Iraqi roads. A Horrific video shows their latest
murders in Iraq .
In the end of the video, a poor fellow guy runned to save his life,
unfortunately without success.
Excerpt: As Iraq
descends into chaos, the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran
hangs over the Middle East . Ali Alfoneh, a
senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert on the
inner workings of the Iranian regime, tells Right Turn that sanctions
have put pressure on the mullahs: “The Iranian regime wants to achieve some
kind of agreement since it is desperate for cash.” Meanwhile, “President Obama
needs a foreign policy achievement he can market as a victory.” That, however,
doesn’t bode well for disarming Iran .
“I’m not sure it will be a good deal,” he says. “Even worse . . . I’m not sure Iran
can deliver.”
Taliban commander
exchanged for Bergdahl coordinated with al Qaeda to attack Northern Alliance
the day before 9/11
Excerpt: One of the five senior Taliban leaders transferred
to Qatar
in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl played a key role in al Qaeda's plans
leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mohammad Fazl, who served
as the Taliban's army chief of staff and deputy defense minister prior to his
detention at Guantánamo, did not have a hand in planning the actual 9/11
hijackings. Along with a notorious al Qaeda leader, however, Fazl did help
coordinate a military offensive against the enemies of the Taliban and al Qaeda
in Afghanistan
the day before. And Osama bin Laden viewed that Sept. 10 offensive as
an essential part of al Qaeda's 9/11 plot.
http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/06/benghazi-filmmaker-nakoula-bacile-nakoula-confirmed-to-be-an-agent-of-eric-holder-justice-department/#MEr1o1pB7QDE80sy.99
Excerpt: Earlier this week, we brought you news about the
producer of the film that was at the heart of the Obama administration talking
points on Benghazi admitting
to being a Muslim, not a Coptic Christian as he had
been portrayed to America. Now Walid Shoebat, Ben Barrack and Keith Davies
confirm he is an agent of Eric Holder's Justice Department. (I'd rate this very
doubtful. But I rated Fast and Furious very doubtful. I don't mind slamming
Obama or Holder based on the facts. But if we slam them on lies, we are both
unethical, and counter-productive. It remains to be seen which this is. ~Bob)
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